Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Whither? II

I thought I would give you all a quick update on our decision-making progress for graduate school. I've certainly never encountered a more difficult choice in my entire life. (I know, you're all thinking, What about the decision to get married? Actually, that was a very easy decision to make. I wanted to marry Camber after our third date or something like that.) Most of me just wants to be done with it, but other parts (the more rational parts) of me know that it's truly better to take one's time and make sure you make the right decision.

Late last week we found out that I did not receive a super-duper-hot-and-amazing scholarship from Ohio State. That was, as we thought, the final piece of information we had been waiting for before we made our decision. So yesterday, Sunday, we decided to fast and pray about where to go.

I'm going to try to keep this short, so suffice it to say that while we began our fast leaning toward Iowa, we ended it leaning heavily toward Ohio; so we—perhaps naively—decided that Ohio it is (was)! We even went so far as to tell our families (and each school) our decision.

Fast forward to today. This morning, neither Camber nor I felt good about our decision at all. Call it buyer's remorse, over-thinking or over-analyzing, but we just didn't feel good about it. I began leaning toward Iowa again, while Camber began wondering aloud about BYU.

Funny thing about BYU. I applied there way back in December—in fact they were the first school I actually finished applying to. They responded (back in December) and told me that they would put my application "on hold," which is basically a waiting list. I haven't heard back since, so I figured it was a no-go. I've even stopped listing them as one of the schools I applied to when people asked me.

But since Camber couldn't shake the feeling of BYU out of her mind today, I decided that I would email them and ask for an update. I said, "Even if you could just tell me that I won't be accepted, that would be extremely helpful in my decision-making process." I expected them to write back and say: "Thanks for the email. You're rejected."

Instead I got an email that said, "Thanks for letting us know about your time constraints. We'd like to set up an interview!" Talk about unexpected.

(One more important note about BYU: BYU really is a great school. There are some obvious huge advantages to going there, not the least of which being that they are out west. They're highly ranked (similar to Ohio), but since they're in the west I'm likely to be able to find a job out here. And they are a great school. The only reason I stopped considering them is simply that I hadn't heard from them in months, and assumed, as I said before, it was a no-go. But I'm very excited about the possibility to consider them in my options. They're a great school and they would be a great fit.)

Now, I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch. And even if BYU does end up accepting me, there's no guarantee that I'll go there. But it seems like an interesting development to me, so I figured I'd share it. I'll probably interview with them later this week (or early next week), and I'll keep you posted on what happens.

5 comments:

Hey! What program are you applying to at BYU? My hubby just got accepted to the MBA program there and it is well-ranked and is so much more affordable than other Business Schools. To us it's not a plus that it is in the West, possibly putting restraints on where the jobs could be recruiting from. We have been loving Boston, but it's too expensive to logically go to school here... Sigh. We are at the decisions cross-roads too. Yuck and good luck! We are at the over-analyzing/debating/discussing/fasting and praying part of the decision too.

Yes, it's for BYU's MBA program. In fact, I just got back from my interview there, and they accepted me! Crazy, talk about how things can change quickly.

So now I officially have three schools to choose between. Due to scholarships, I would pay roughly the same at all three.

To me being out west is a huge advantage, because I do want to end up here (at least in the Utah, Arizona, California, Colorado area), and going to a school in that area is the best way to get placed there.

Camber, in response to your email to the nursing class, I have to put in my vote for

OHIO STATE!!!

Since we've lived in Cincinnati, we have gotten to spend some time in Columbus (it's 2 hours away from us) and I think it is a really nice city. Not too huge, but not tiny either. There's an LDS temple right there in Columbus and a pretty big LDS population there too. Jesse actually interviewed at OSU for medical school and was on their waiting list. He was hoping to go there, but Cincinnati has been a great place too. As for hospitals, you won't have trouble finding one there because there is a medical school there!! Jesse and I spent New Year's Eve in Columbus because they had a First Night (family-friendly party with NO alcohol). Downtown was pretty clean and well-kept (Cincinnati isn't quite so clean near downtown) and we also got to go to a awesome flower conservatory. Another plus about Ohio is all the TREES here! Columbus area is more flat, but Cincinnati has a lot of rolling hills, so that helps me not feel as much withdrawl from lack of mountains. We have also really enjoyed just seeing the other side of the country for a while. We are within driving distance of Chicago, Washington DC, Palmyra, Nashville, etc...I think we still would like to settle in Utah eventually, but for now this has been a great adventure.

That's about it. Let us know what you decide. Oh, and if you move to Ohio, maybe we could meet up sometime! :)